I have a #1 in 243 and while fun to shoot I was rather appalled the day I shot an empty soup can and found the 243 would not move the can at all. Every other caliber I used, including 22 Long Rifle, knocked the cans over.

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms. . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” — Jefferson`s “Commonplace Book,”

“Political tags – such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth – are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.” Robert A. Heinlein

“Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.”- Heraclitus.

I was drawn to this caliber as a very young man, I lusted after the Savage 110 in the Field and Stream ads for years. Christmas of 1994, I was 13, my father, whom I did not live with, bought me one. Nobody knew I wanted that exact gun. I'd been shooting my step dad's 30-30 for a couple of years. I still use it as my go-to gun for all of my hunting here in Texas.

I've used a 243 for many years as a combination coyote/deer caliber. For a guy with only one rifle and nothing bigger than deer in his agenda, it's a decent round. Unfortunately, I found there are better varmint rounds and better deer rounds. For me, the last time I really used the 243 was an antelope hunt in Wyoming in 93. It turned out to be a combination hunt since the outfitter was really PO'd at the coyotes so the 243 was a good choice. I had 4 witnessed and measured hits over 400 yards out of 6 shots fired(1 miss and 1 close range kill).

I don't know I put my nephew on a buck last hunting season and let him use my 243 and the deer ran all of 20 yards before piling up. I then let my daughter use it for a ram hunt and the ram only ran about 30 yards before being done. First buck I killed when I was 12 was with a 243 and he ran all of 50 yards.

The 243 has done very well by me.

God made man, Sam Colt made all men equal.

Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. Albert Einstein

I have been working on a 243Win. But it is nothing but problems. Let me explained, i got two barrels, a 243 Win and 30-06 Springfield. I also had a 38 Turk Mauser action and M48 Yugo action. I took both barrel and action to the local smith and told him to rethread the 30-06 to the Turk Mauser and index the 243 Win to the Yugo. When I got them back, the 243 was rethreads for the Turk and the 30-06 was index for the Yugo. That was the 1st problem. 2nd problem was that after assembling the 243 Win together, I found out it did not feed right. The rails needed to be open alittle. Since it needed to be blued, I sent the rifle off. This all started last March. Since I reload, I pick up about 100 rds, dies, bullets, some more primers and powder.

I told the first smith that he screwed up and showed him, found out he out source the lathe work. Needless to say he was fired. But before I let him go, I give him another 38 Turk receiver and told him to fix it. And yes, there was no feeding issue with the 243 Win barrel and the Yugo M48 action. I put it on and tried it. Work like a gem, just need the barrel to be index so the stamping was on top. But that got screw up by the 1 st smith.

I should have my 243 Win in about three weeks all blued and ready to go.Rob

Well it only took nearly a decade but I own a .243 Win. Thank god I am not married yet the GF said well shouldn't you sell a gun if you buy an new one ..

I said no it doesn't work that way.....

Anyways I have always had an obsession with that Cal growing up, and now I have one.

Bought a mossberg 100ATR on sale scope package for 279.00. It will see light if any use really.

I lucked into a used youth model for $200 with a cheap scope, after opening up the barrel channel a bit it shoots 3/4 inch at 100 yards off the bench.Nothing wrong with Mossberg.It likes 100gr bullets with a moderate charge of IMR4350.